Hog Island Photo

Dear Editor,

In your June 8 issue, a photo appears claiming to illustrate “Hog Island Wiped Out in 1893 Hurricane.” While the history of Hog Island and the changes to Far Rockaway’s coastline are somewhat obscure and interesting topics, the photo caption contains some erroneous information. Is this April Fool’s Day? That’s no Hog Island in the photo. It’s Atlantic Beach, right where it stands today. Aerial photos in 1892? I think not.

The photo, which is claimed to be taken of Hog Island “prior to 1893” was actually taken after 1927, when the original Atlantic Beach Bridge was built. The bridge can be plainly seen in the photo crossing East Rockaway Inlet from the Far Rockaway shore to the sparsely developed Atlantic Beach. The road in the left side of the photo is not Beach 20 Street as identified, but Beach 9 Street.

The caption further states that the loss of Hog Island to the 1893 Hurricane “is the only reported incidence in history of an entire island being wiped out in a hurricane.” Unless recorded history began last week, this simply isn’t true. Coastal sandbars and islands pop up and are reclaimed by the surf every day.

The Wave would be well served by running these stories by Emil Lucev before sending them to print. Especially when it’s not in an April 1 edition.